As the undercard boxing telecast was underway for the Danny Garcia vs. Jose Benavidez, Jr. fight at the Barclays Center on Saturday night, Showtime made an announcement that next weekend’s Jake Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr. fight was called off.
Yet again my opponents has pulled out of the fight… (1/2) pic.twitter.com/7ADOku3glx
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) July 31, 2022
With issues with the natural heavyweight in Rahman cited as the cause, the event, which is a week away, left the world scratching their collective heads and wondering if Jake “The Problem Child” Paul is scared or genuinely concerned.
With Rahman being the first true boxer Paul would have faced, his caution is warranted, as he has knocked out all his previous opponents and was riding the wave of an unexpected KO artist into Madison Square Garden.
#PaulRahman has been cancelled. Refunds for all ticket and PPV purchases will be provided. Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/thnjyjUEMT
— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) July 31, 2022
Paul’s promotional company, MVP Promotions, released a statement about the cancellation:
“On July 5, Hasim Rahman Jr. signed a bout agreement to fight Jake Paul on August 6th at Madison Square Garden at a maximum weight of 200 lbs. At the time of signing Rahman provided evidence of his weight to give comfort to Most Valuable Promotions and the New York State Athletic Commission that he would not be losing more than 10% of his weight over the 4 weeks leading up to the fight,” the MVP Promotions statement said. “Since weighing in at 216 lbs on July 7, Rahman and his camp have offered assurance after assurance publicly and privately that he was on track to make weight at the weigh-in on August 5th, going as far as to provide a letter signed by a recognized nutritionist that his weight cut was progressing without issue per New York State Athletic Commission’s required weekly weight checks. In the last 48 hours, it has become clear that these assurances were not made in good faith.
“On Friday, Rahman submitted a weight check to the New York State Athletic Commission that demonstrated he had lost less than 1 pound since originally signing to take the fight 24 days prior. This prompted the Commission to declare that it would not sanction the fight at less than 205 lbs. Still, Jake Paul was prepared to move forward with the fight at this new weight and a new contract was sent to Rahman’s promoter (Greg Cohen) reflecting a 205 lbs. limit, imposing strict penalties should he fail to make weight. Upon receiving this new contract Saturday morning, Rahman’s camp indicated for the very first time that he planned to weigh 215 lbs. at the official weigh-in and would not agree to weigh-in at 205 pounds and informing Most Valuable Promotions that they are pulling out of the fight unless the fight was agreed to at 215 pounds.”
Why he don’t have this energy in person though? Biggest pay day of my life? I already made 4X what you offered off of sparring 🤡 now you want to paint the narrative to not let me on anyones cards cause you KNOW the people going demand us. 😂😂 #JakeFraud pic.twitter.com/nDQItZEeeD
— Hasim Rahman Jr. (@_HasimRahmanJr) July 31, 2022
Immediately Rahman took to Twitter to set the record straight from his point of view, etting a mixed reaction from fans and fighters alike.
Jake don’t want no mf smoke Pt 1/2 pic.twitter.com/A6ih5nleGT
— Hasim Rahman Jr. (@_HasimRahmanJr) July 31, 2022
Paul and Rahman had heated back-and-forth at press events, and Paul declared he would eliminate the name Junior’s father built as a former heavyweight champion of the world.
It is now the second cancellation of Paul’s next fight, as the first was against Tommy Fury, brother to heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who couldn’t get a visa from his native England to fight Paul in New York City.
Pt 2/2 pic.twitter.com/uC7uUjDXBv
— Hasim Rahman Jr. (@_HasimRahmanJr) July 31, 2022
As the journey of Jake Paul continues, his unconventional path to boxing stardom is starting to experience the bumps and bruises that come with the hurt business.
